Piano Tricks

Sustained chords

:Main article: Sustained chord.

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A sustained chord, or "sus chord" (also suspended chord), is a chord where the second or most often the fourth is played with or replaces the third. For instance, Csus4 is C, F, and G. These chords are called "sustained" because you typically arrive at them when you perform a V7-I progression but don't resolve the seventh of the V7. This is similar to a suspension, where the harmony shifts from one chord to another, but one or more notes of the first chord are held over into the second. However in a sustained chord the note may never resolve as is required of a suspension. In jazz, sus chords are usually played as a major triad with the second in the bass, e.g. a major C with a D bass is a Dsus7.

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